Why “Being Good” Isn’t Enough for Private Daycares
Imagine walking into a food court. There are three burger places, all selling the same cheeseburger at the same price. The burgers look identical. The menus are identical. All three places seem to be all clean and modern.
Which one do you choose?
It doesn’t really matter. You pick any of them.
Now imagine one of those burger shops introduces a deluxe burger – clearly different, heavily advertised, and priced the same as the basic burger. Which shop do most people walk toward?
The one that stands out.
Take it a step further. Suppose another shop offers a supreme burger at double the price. Now it’s no longer competing with the $4 burgers at all. It attracts a different type of customer, someone who wants something specific and is willing to pay for it.
This is exactly how private daycare competition works.
The Daycare Parallel
If your daycare offers the same programs, similar hours, similar messaging, and similar pricing as other centres just 5 to 10 minutes away, how do parents choose? They don’t.
The decision becomes random:
- Who replied faster
- Who answered the phone
- Who had availability that day
Even if your centre is very good, if everyone else is also very good and saying the same things, parents have no clear reason to choose you.
Competing on Price vs. Competing on Identity
There are essentially two ways to compete:
- Compete on price
This often means joining programs like CWELCC and positioning yourself as an affordable option. - Compete on differentiation
Create a clear specialty, philosophy, or experience that makes your centre meaningfully different.
Trying to be “the same but slightly better” rarely works. Parents cannot see or feel “slightly better” from a website or a tour. When your centre has a clear niche, you stop competing with every daycare nearby. You create your own market.
Why Niches Win
When a daycare stands for something specific, parents self-select. They are looking for the daycare that fits them.
That’s when parents are willing to:
- Pay more
- Wait longer
- Drive 20–30 minutes
- Stay enrolled longer
- And they become raving fans too and help spread the words.
The Bottom Line
Private daycares don’t win by being “just as good” as everyone else. They win by being clearly different. If you look the same, sound the same, and price the same as every other centre, enrollment becomes a race to respond faster. But when you define your niche and own it, parents don’t compare you with others, they choose you.
And that changes everything.
